WASHINGTON – Soon D.C. commuters will share the road with a new type of vehicle – streetcars.
The D.C. streetcar project is rolling right along, with a car barn at Benning Road and 26th Street NE up next on the agenda.
The tracks will be built in front of the shuttered Spingarn High School in northeast D.C. first. Construction of the car barn will then begin this fall and is expected to be completed by the summer of 2014.
Tony Goodman, a local ANC commissioner, says a temporary tent will be put up until it is finished:
Construction starts week of July 8th on tracks for Spingarn @dcstreetcar barn. Will have temporary tent while permanent barn built.
— Tony T Goodman (@TonyTGoodman) June 27, 2013
Eventually, the $13 million facility will act as a command center for the H Street/Benning Road line, where streetcars will be inspected, cleaned and repaired.
Some residents were not happy that the facility would be built in their backyard, but DDOT says a wall on the western side of the car barn will limit the noise.
Three streetcar units are being tested and will be delivered to the H Street corridor in a few months. Officials hope that the line will be up and running by the end of the year.
DDOT will give an update on the Anacostia line at a public meeting on July 16.
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